$3-a-gallon gas: Day 1,000 and counting

September 16, 2013|Orlando Sentinel staff report

As of Tuesday, the national average price of gasoline will have been more than $3 a gallon for a thousand days in a row, according to the AAA travel club, which predicts prices will remain that way for at least another thousand days, barring another big recession.

The current streak began Dec. 23, 2010, when the U.S. price rose to $3 a gallon from $2.98 the day before, AAA said.

"Florida gas prices reached $3 a gallon on Dec. 22, 2010, just one day sooner than the national average," said Mark Jenkins, a spokesman for the Auto Club Group, a AAA affiliate. "While Florida motorists may get lucky and occasionally pay less than $3 per gallon in the future, $2 gas prices are mostly a thing of the past."

According to AAA and Oil Price Information Service, the average price for a gallon of regular gas Monday was $3.52 nationwide, $3.46 in Florida and $3.38 in Metro Orlando.